[Impact of noninvasive ventilation failure upon patient prognosis. Subanalysis of a multicenter study]. / Impacto del fracaso de la ventilacion no invasiva en el pronóstico de los pacientes. Subanálisis de un estudio multicéntrico.

OBJECTIVE: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) constitutes first-line treatment for the exacerbation of obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiogenic lung edema. Several studies suggest that NIV failure could increase the risk of mortality, mainly due to the delay in tracheal intubation. We aimed to evaluate the negative impact of NIV failure in routine practice among Spanish ICUs. PATIENTS: A subanalysis was made of the multicenter validation of the Sabadell Score study, extracting patients with acute respiratory failure requiring either invasive or noninvasive mechanical ventilation, with the exclusion of patients presenting "do not resuscitate and/or do not intubate" orders. VARIABLES: We recorded demographic parameters, ICU-specific treatments and the development of acute renal failure or infections during ICU stay. Patients were followed-up on until hospital discharge or death. The statistic analysis included Cox multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: We analyzed 4132 patients, of whom 1602 (39%) received only invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), while 529 (13%) received NIV. The latter succeeded in 50% of the patients, but the other 50% required intubation. NIV failure was more common in neurological and postsurgical patients. Mortality was lower than predicted in NIV patients (22% vs. 33%) and similar to predicted in IMV patients (27% vs. 29%). Mortality was lower than predicted in patients in whom NIV proved successful (12% vs. 28%), and in those in whom NIV failed (32% vs. 38%). CONCLUSION: NIV failure and the need of intubation as routinely used do not seem to imply a poorer patient prognosis.

Successful treatment of severe intra-abdominal bleeding associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation using recombinant activated factor VII.

Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) is indicated mainly for the treatment of patients with haemophilia and inhibitors. However, little information is available on the use of rFVIIa in the treatment of the severe bleeding associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). We report a pregnant woman with DIC, who developed severe intra-abdominal bleeding after caesarean section. Despite treatment with fresh-frozen plasma, fibrinogen, platelet transfusions and surgery, the abdominal bleeding persisted and intravenous treatment with rFVIIa was initiated. The response to treatment was rapid, with control of the bleeding and resolution of the coagulopathy. No side-effects related to rFVIIa were noted. This case suggests a potential role for rFVIIa in the treatment of severe and refractory bleeding associated with DIC.

Withdrawing and withholding life support in the intensive care unit: a Spanish prospective multi-centre observational study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how frequently life support is withheld or withdrawn from adult critically ill patients, and how physicians and patients families agree on the decision regarding the limitation of life support. DESIGN: Prospective multi-centre cohort study. SETTING: Six adult medical-surgical Spanish intensive care units (ICUs). PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS: Three thousand four hundred ninety-eight consecutive patients admitted to six ICUs were enrolled. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Data collected included age, sex, SAPS II score on admission and within 24 h of the decision to limit treatment, length of ICU stay, outcome at ICU discharge, cause and mode of death, time to death after the decision to withhold or withdraw life support, consultation and agreement with patient's family regarding withholding or withdrawal, and the modalities of therapies withdrawn or withheld. Two hundred twenty-six (6.6%) of 3,498 patients had therapy withheld or withdrawn and 221 of them died in the ICU. Age, SAPS II and length of ICU stay were significantly higher in patients dying patients who had therapy withheld or withdrawn than in patients dying despite active treatment. The proposal to withhold or withdraw life support was initiated by physicians in 210 (92.9%) of 226 patients and by the family in the remaining cases. The patient's family was not involved in the decision to withhold or withdraw life support therapy in 64 (28.3%) of 226 cases. Only 21 (9%) patients had expressed their wish to decline life-prolonging therapy prior to ICU admission. CONCLUSIONS: The withholding and withdrawing of treatment was frequent in critically ill patients and was initiated primarily by physicians.

[Failure of prediction of results with APACHE II. Analysis of prediction errors of mortality in critical patients]. / Fallos de predicción de resultados mediante APACHE II. Análisis de los errores de predicción de mortalidad en pacientes críticos.

BACKGROUND: The evaluation of the prognosis of critically ill patients by the APACHE II method is common in intensive care units (ICU). The aim of the present was to analyze the possible factors associated to errors in prediction. METHODS: A prospective study of 564 consecutive admissions in a department of intensive medical care was carried out. Prediction errors were studied by the calculation of the probability of death established after the first 24 hours of admission by means of APACHE II. The factors analyzed in relation to the prediction errors were: the diagnosis or cause of admission to the ICU, the length of the stay in the ICU, the time until possible death, the possible relation of the death with the cause of admission and the treatment given to the patients during the first 24 hours. Statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS software package with significance being determined at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Mortality was of 20.6% (116 cases) with three cut off points being chosen for probability of death (50, 70, and 90%). Accuracy of precision was 83.5%, 82.8% and 80.1%. There were 64 false survivors (mortality lower than 50%, 13.25%-64/483) and 29 false deaths (survival greater than 50%, 35.8%-29/81). Upon analysis of the cause of admission of these patients in whom there were prediction errors it was found that there were no differences among the false survivors and the false deaths. Significant differences were only detected upon comparison of the false survivors with the verified survivors, however these disappeared when the 136 cases admitted due to myocardial infarction were excluded. Neither did the length of stay in the ICU demonstrate any significant difference except among the verified and false deaths in that the stay was longer in the latter. CONCLUSIONS: The factors analyzed did not demonstrate that they may influence or be associated with errors in prediction of the prognosis of patients admitted to an intensive care unit, with these errors probably being due to errors in the system used.